> 5. Change your mindset about young children (Don’t assume toddlers and young children simply want to play; they may want to help) It always seems to me tha

> 5. Change your mindset about young children (Don’t assume toddlers and young children simply want to play; they may want to help) It always seems to me that kids always start with an innate desire to learn by mimicking available role models, whether they are parents, older siblings, or older relatives. It's only after being repeatedly told to go somewhere else to play and not bother the adults and their work that they start to look for other ways to spend their time (e.g. by playing or watching youtube). They realize offers of help are probably going to be treated as a bother and rejected, and become accustomed to doing other activities that don't bother the adults. Then, the parent, at some later point in time, complains that they don't help around the house. They'll insist their kid to help more, but they're asking him/her to change a habit of play that's been set since long ago. That's why I think that one should start teaching life skills as soon as a child is able and willing to learn them. They might suck at everything at first and be more bother than help, but that's part of learning and that bother I think is the burden of parenting. > 4. Don't force it Yeah, people don't like doing what they're forced to do, and they'll avoid what they don't like. It's about understanding that it's a necessity of life. It's not optional. While the kid's a kid, the parents will be there to help the kid clean up after his messes and do other things necessary for his/her life (cooking etc.), but that help won't always be there. So, it's not about getting the kid to help as much as it is about reducing the amount of help the kid must receive from his parents. If he's doing chores that the whole family benefit from, it's to counterbalance the things that other family members do for him. I feel much of the conflict in getting kids to do their chores is because they don't see the logic in fairness behind it, and the benefit that it's for him/her to learn it. It's a communication problem, which is understandable because communicating effectively with kids can be hard or at least different to communicating with adults. > 2. Think small tasks, big contributions (The task can be tiny, but the key part is that it has to make a real contribution to the chore, not “mock work”) Kids aren't dumb, and pointless work is pointless. As soon as they notice that the work they're putting in isn't helping anyone, why bother? It's the feeling of being useful and dependable what we want them to feel. Gratitude from a loved family member that visibly benefited from his/her work is nice, too. > this piece about Mexican Maya practices around chores I didn't know it came from the Mayans. Is this not common advice? EDIT: Disclaimer: I don't have kids. This are just my thoughts based on what I've learned from other parents and their kids.